Sony and a small claims court

reuben23

Hi, In March last year I bought a sony notebook for £900 from comet. In July the same year it was returned with 2 hardware faults resulting in the replacement of said parts. It then lasted another week then wasa returned with a 3rd fault again resulting in a part replacement (main board), all the above covered by the initial 1yr guarantee. 14 months on the notebook refuses to start, confirmed to be another hardware fault through vaios online support and which will now cost to rectify.
I am of the opinion that any reasonable person would expect more reliability from such a notebook, and would like to redirect all associated costs of repair back to sony through small claims, on the grounds of `unreasonable use from the product` mentioned in the consumer rights. Would that action be successful given the above information? and what would be the course of action to take? any advice offered would be greatly appreciated R.

OlliesDad

As you do not have any contract with Sony your claim would fall at the first hurdle.

It would be comet you would have to make any claim against, but you would need to prove you have given them suitable opprtunity to repair it. Write a letter to them recorded post, but dont expect them to be too forthcoming.

reuben23

#2 Thanks for the info, comets view is the item is out of guarantee so they will not honour a repair and you are correct they are not forthcoming.
my point is for a £900 item, with a known history of previous faults to then again stop working 17 months from purchase is not reasonable. There is a consumer law stating that products must last what most people would consider a reasonable amount of time, but how do you apply such a vague law to comet management, since all they are capable of comprehending is the 28day return and standard guarantee periods R.

moonrakerz

reuben23 wrote: »

There is a consumer law stating that products must last what most people would consider a reasonable amount of time

'fraid there isn't !

Have a read of this:-
http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

You may be in a reasonable position, given the history of the item.

Lynsey

Too much wine tonight so sorry, but wasn't there a thread which stated all electrical products must be covered by a 2 year warranty as per EU law??

Shoot me down gently if I'm wrong.

Lnsey

Lynsey

Thanks for being gentle.
There was a thread though??
I'm not that sozzled.

Lynsey

superscaper

Lynsey wrote: »

Thanks for being gentle.
There was a thread though??
I'm not that sozzled.

Lynsey

There was a thread but it comes from a complete misunderstanding.

First it's an EU Directive, not law. A directive means all member states must implement it as a national law.

Second it's not a "warranty" it's simply a responsibility of the retailer which the EU Directive calls a guarantee but it's not the same thing as a manufacturer's warranty (which is always a bonus to your legal rights).

In other words it's what the Sales of Goods Act is, the only difference is that we've not only got the EU Directive implemented with that but it surpasses it by covering a reasonable time up to 6 years in England and Wales instead of 2. Anybody quoting the EU Directive instead of the SOGA is both shooting themselves in the foot and demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of what it is.

So in conclusion you're better off forgetting about that thread.